Iraq

Election bill vetoed

Article published on the 2008-07-24 Latest update 2008-07-25 06:13 TU

Jalal Talabani

The Presidency Council of Iraq has rejected an election bill. This will probably delay provincial elections which were originally scheduled for October 2008. The US had hoped to press ahead with those polls as part of its plans to rebuild the country's political structures.

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The Presidency Council is a three-member board comprising Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, his deputy Adel Abdel Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashimi.

Talabani and Mahdi both rejected the bill citing "constitutional and procedural vilations". The views of al-Hashimi are not yet known. The legislation will return to parliament leaving elections in 18 provinces on hold.

One of the sticking points has been disagreement over how to constitute a council for the region of Kirkuk. This northern province is claimed by both Arabs and Kurds and is rich in oil.

The rejection of the law is a setback for Washington which has been pushing for provincial elections.

"We think that local elections would help in Iraq to further reconcile all the groups", said the White House spokesperson.

Journalist and author Patrick Cockburn told RFI that while the US was pressing for elections, it "had less and less leverage in Baghdad to get what it wants".